This study will offer: (1) a systematic and critical review of the literature pertaining to certain key concepts in U.S. criminal law bearing on criminal responsibility when offending conduct is drug-dependency motivated; (2) constructive proposals for a rational legal doctrine in the area, one which is practicable and meshes with both common law and basic public policy; (3) logical analysis of the key concepts -- 'voluntary,' 'compulsion,' 'responsible,' 'disease,' etc.-- which link the empirical health sciences data with the normative legal concepts as the basis for the legal doctrine proposed; (4) a body of discussion which can serve as a basis for facilitating communication between health science experts and law experts in the area of drug-dependency public policy. The project is distinctive in being substantive, policy-oriented research in which issues of the logic of language and issues in case-law and legal literature generally, are systematically related to the implications of medical data.